Decisive Point
by TheLegacyHero
Summary: Sequel to Crisis Point. Thrawn makes a decision to save the Empire. Please Read and Review.


**Decisive Point**

The Imperial Star Destroyer _Admonitor_ glided through the blackness of space just outside the Nirauan system. Grand Admiral Thrawn had ordered the ship to remain in relatively close proximity to the planet in order to receive any communications from Admiral Niriz as quickly as possible. The only attachment with the Star Destroyer was a mid-space comm transmitter and the Interdictor Cruiser _Striker_ whose gravity well projectors were constantly on to deter any surprise attacks.

Captain Parck was staring off at the side viewport when the _Admonitor_'s bridge comm officer approached him. "Captain Parck? Message from Nirauan, sir. Admiral Niriz is requesting contact with Grand Admiral Thrawn."

Parck turned to face the bridge comm officer and nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant," he said briskly. "Proceed to transmit the message to the secondary command bridge. I will alert the Grand Admiral."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant said dutifully and returned to the communications console.

Parck turned to his First Officer. "You have the bridge Commander. If you require me, I'll be in the secondary bridge with Grand Admiral Thrawn."

The Commander gave Parck a knowing nod. "Yes, sir," he said. Parck turned and strode off the bridge. Entering the elevator, the Captain let out a small sigh as his mind drifted away from the monotonous on-duty/off-duty daily schedule. He could still hear the words of Grand Admiral Thrawn's disapproving analysis of Endor's upcoming battle with the Rebellion.

For the past few weeks, the Grand Admiral had been spending a lot more time meditating in his ready room. Parck would occasionally report to him, more out of curiosity than duty, he admitted, to relay the bridge messages. Imperial procedure frowned on interrupting a Grand Admiral's meditation with trivial intercom messages. "One spoke to him in person or one did not speak to him at all" the old Imperial Dictum went. This gave the Captain the perfect excuse to see the Grand Admiral.

Each visit was exactly the same. Thrawn would accept the message, upload the information to the holo profile, thank the Captain, and Parck would leave. The Grand Admiral's expressions were unreadable, for Thrawn was a master at concealing his emotions. Parck couldn't tell if it was a trait of his species, the Chiss, or just an eccentricity of Thrawn's persona. In either case, the entire _Admonitor _crew had been on edge ever since the Grand Admiral declassified some of the information regarding the Death Star and the Imperial Fleet at Endor.

And here they were, out in the Unknown Regions, preparing for an elusive threat instead of participating in the Rebel Alliance's destruction and ensuring its demise. Here aboard a Star Destroyer manned by painstakingly trained and experienced veterans of the Imperial Fleet, many of whom willingly volunteered, much like Parck himself, to serve in this mission. Here under the command of the greatest military mind the Empire had ever seen.

Conventional military wisdom dictated one to utilize all resources in the most efficient manner possible to assure the highest probability of success. More than that, it was common sense. Why in blazes wasn't Grand Admiral Thrawn overseeing the strategic planning at Endor? Grand Admiral Teshik was competent enough Parck supposed. But if Thrawn was pessimistic about the whole operation, than there was good reason to just scrap the whole plan together and start back at sector one.

With a scowl Parck stepped off the elevator still keeping his military composure. Perhaps the time has come for the Grand Admiral to reemerge in the inner political court, if for any reason to save the Empire from certain doom. He made a note to speak with Thrawn concerning that topic during their upcoming meeting.

As far as the Captain was concerned, Thrawn's suggestions were as good as gold credits when it came to military strategy. And any person who took those suggestions lightly should not be directing the Empire's military forces. Let Palpatine and his political underlings squabble about control over star systems and power over people. Leave the fighting and tactical planning to the experts. And who has more expertise in this matter than Grand Admiral Thrawn?

Parck straightened his tunic and braced himself as he approached the door. "Captain Parck to see Grand Admiral Thrawn regarding priority message from Nirauan," he announced. The door slid open and Parck stepped into the entry room. Mentally preparing himself, he entered the inner sanctum of the command bridge.

The sanctum was usually empty when Parck entered. However, this time it was filled with holographic artwork of a strange origin, or perhaps strange _origins_, Parck couldn't tell. The central holo image was still of the Endor moon as usual, and Grand Admiral Thrawn was still seated as usual in the Admiral's chair studying the demographics of the Imperial Fleet as the projection slowly rotated emulating the moon's orbit. Parck caught just a trace of the glowing red eyes characteristic of the Admiral.

"Come in, Captain," Thrawn beckoned with an outreached hand. "I believe I've found the answer we've been looking for," he said, and there was no mistaking the grim satisfaction in his voice.

"I certainly hope so, sir," Parck responded. "Another message was transmitted from Nirauan, Admiral. More information about the Endor fleet from Coruscant, no doubt." Parck never understood how the Grand Admiral was able to slip such highly classified information out of Coruscant. The Emperor was at Endor, and he doubted that the ever-paranoid Sate Pestage, Grand Vizier of the Empire, would just mindlessly allow an exiled Grand Admiral to access such privileged information. Unless, of course, he knew the conditions of the exile.

Thrawn's exile to the Unknown Regions was not a typical banishment from the political arena as many had thought. It had been engineered by the Grand Admiral and the Emperor in order to covertly oust Nuso Esva, a dangerous warlord whose cunning tactics was second to none to Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. Esva had been secretly expanding his regime conquering sector after sector in Wild Space and began to threaten Imperial territory. Thrawn had recommended for the Emperor to take immediate action before Esva consolidated more power. The last thing the Empire needed was to split military resources between battling Esva and fighting the Rebel Alliance. If the two forces teamed up against the Empire...

"Thank you, Captain," Thrawn said, cutting into Parck's thoughts and punched a few buttons. Swiveling around in his command chair, Thrawn pushed a button on his armrest and the view screen at the back of the bridge came on. There was a slight pause with the Imperial emblem in the background before being abruptly replaced with the face of a man wearing an Admiral's insignia on his neatly pressed military uniform.

"Grand Admiral," Niriz said gravely. "I thought you'd like to know that I've decoded the latest information from Delta Source about Endor." He hesitated just briefly before continuing. "A small rebel force has penetrated the shield, and landed on Endor. Best guess is that the Rebel Fleet will enter the system within the next day or two."

_Delta Source?_ Parck thought to himself. Was that Thrawn's inside contact at Coruscant that had been delivering the classified intel? And if so, why hadn't he been informed of his existence. Was Delta Source that secretive? Or was it simply that the Grand Admiral didn't trust him as much as he hoped.

"Thank you, Admiral Niriz," Thrawn replied. "Were there any specifics?"

"No, sir," Niriz answered. "As you know Delta Source can only gather the surrounding information around itself. But I'll keep you posted through the hypercomm if anything new shows up."

"Please do," Thrawn said. "Timing is of the utmost importance in this operation, Admiral. You will have to tend to our old nemesis here in my absence. Be aware that once Esva discovers that I'm not here, he'll waste no time in launching a hasty attack." The Grand Admiral paused for a second and sat up in his chair. He straightened his spotless white uniform and continued. "I have prepared a number of strategies and logged them in the Star Destroyer _Reckless_'s main computer. That should keep Esva on the defensive until I return."

"I see," Niriz said. "I take it then that the _Reckless_ shall be my flagship for the duration of your leave?"

"Indeed," Thrawn confirmed. "Captain Armand is a competent officer and will serve you well."

"Thank you, Admiral, and good luck to you," said Niriz. The screen went blank, and an unsteady silence filled the air for a brief moment before Thrawn turned the chair around and faced Captain Parck.

"What do you think, Captain?" Thrawn asked.

Parck swallowed. He slowly drank in the words exchanged between Niriz and the Grand Admiral. "I can see why you ordered the _Admonitor_ to remain close to Nirauan, sir," he said cautiously. "It's obvious that you are planning to take the ship to Endor." Parck took a deep breath. "But I don't see why you halted your campaign against Nuso Esva for the past month. Surely we could've struck another strategic blow or two to his armada."

"All in good time, Captain," Thrawn said. He gestured to some of the art paintings on the wall. "These are copies of some of the Emperor's personal collections while he was part of his noble house on Naboo. I've been hoping to deduce my uneasiness with the Endor situation by studying work from his early career." He smiled softly. "I believe that I've reached a conclusion."

"And this is the answer that we've been looking for," Parck finished. He waited expectantly for Thrawn to continue.

"Yes," the Grand Admiral said. "Emperor Palpatine is consumed with rage. It's not enough that he wants to defeat the Rebel Alliance, neither does he want to simply make an example of them." The red eyes blazed with a quiet fire. "He wants to utterly destroy their spirits, to spread so much death and destruction that it will drive terror into the hearts of his enemies." Thrawn cocked a blue-black eyebrow. "He's not interested in a military victory, Captain. He's only interested in his own vainglory."

"He'll be destroyed by his own ambition," Parck said with astonishment. "And he'll take the Empire with it."

"Very good, Captain," Thrawn said approvingly…..

And all of a sudden, the klaxons started blaring. "Bridge to Grand Admiral Thrawn," the comm officer's taut voice came over the intercom. "Sir, we're under attack!"

Parck bit his tongue. Who the hell...?

"This is Thrawn," the Grand Admiral responded touching the intercom button. "TIE fighter crews to their stations. Activate deflector shields. Go ahead Commander and tell me what we got." He punched a couple of buttons and abruptly the art displays vanished, the holo image of Endor disappeared, and the ready room monitors filled with the tactical and sensor data of a battle bridge. Parck stood silently by letting Thrawn take control and smiled. He always enjoyed watching Thrawn's tactics at work.

"Sensors are reading three Assault carriers, dreadnought class, and seven Firekiln capital warships accompanying," Lieutenant Commander Storm reported. "The dreadnoughts are launching their fighters, Admiral. Three sets of five wing fighters per dreadnought, all in tight escort formation."

The ships and fighters came up on the holo projector. Thrawn stood up and overlooked the readout. "Suggestions Captain?" he asked.

Parck studied the formations closely. "We can handle the dreadnoughts, sir, but not them and the Firekiln ships. We'll need to call for reinforcements."

Thrawn nodded his head in agreement. "Proceed."

Parck touched the intercom button. "Bridge, this is Captain Parck. Send a distress signal to the _Reckless_ and _Harbinger_. Rotate the Admonitor sixty degrees starboard. Drop rear deflector shields and boost power to all others. Launch the TIE fighters when ready in tight escort formation matching our enemies. Then send an order to the _Striker_ to secure from entrapment duty and flank the _Admonitor_." He glanced over at Thrawn. "Anything else, Admiral?"

"Yes," the Grand Admiral replied and leaned over the intercom. "Make sure that the _Striker_ keeps its gravity well projectors on."

"Yes, sir," Storm acknowledged.

"Admiral, the gravity well projectors will slow the Interdictor Cruiser down," Park murmured into Thrawn's ears.

"The _Striker_ is not in any immediate danger," the Grand Admiral replied. "We still have use of the projectors so it's best to leave them on."

"Of course, sir," said Parck, not fully comprehending why Thrawn was so adamant about the projectors staying on. He watched the scene unfold on the holo display. The attackers were still well ahead of the Interdictor Cruiser due to its gravity well projectors pulling them out of hyperspace a second earlier than normal. The _Striker_ had its back to the ships and was slowly heading to the _Admonitor_ with its sub-light engines blazing. The gravity well projectors put a huge strain on its engines. The TIE fighters had launched and were swarming to the left and right of the Star Destroyer.

"The ships are jamming all mid and long range transmissions, Admiral!" Storm panicked. "We can't call for reinforcements!"

Parck swore under his breath. "Admiral, I'm afraid we'll have to withdraw."

But Thrawn ignored him. "Relax, Commander," he replied, smoothly. "The Fleet will arrive. We'll just have to entertain our unwanted guests for a few minutes." He turned to Parck and smiled. "Did you notice the assault carriers, Captain? It seems Nuso Esva has allied himself with another warlord."

"Admiral, I'm more concerned with our transmissions being jammed," Parck replied, his tone worried, but still under control. "How will the Fleet know to come?"

"Examine all obstacles carefully," the Grand Admiral said knowingly. "With a bit of ingenuity, they can be turned into levers." The assailants were closing in on the _Admonitor_ as predators corner their prey before closing in for the kill. Parck watched the holo, his worried feeling beginning to turn and knot in his stomach...

And abruptly to the portside of the _Admonitor_ and just a few klicks aft of the ship, an Imperial Star Destroyer dropped out of hyperspace. Parck's jaw dropped in amazement. "How did you…" his voice trailed off.

"I sent a code to Admiral Niriz right after we went to red alert," Thrawn replied with satisfaction. "He in turn sent our coordinates to the Fleet via the comm transmitter I had launched out ahead of the Interdictor cruiser." He smiled and gazed back at the monitors. "Can you figure out the rest?"

It only took Parck a moment. "You used the gravity well projectors from the _Striker_ to pull the Star Destroyer out of hyperspace just at the right placement," he said breathlessly. He still couldn't believe what was happening. "That was why you wanted its projectors to remain on as it retreated."

"Excellent deduction, Captain," Thrawn remarked with approval. "This pincer tactic should put our enemies off guard." Another Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace, this one was starboard of the _Admonitor_ and farther behind the other just noticeably. Thrawn looked at the display and nodded. "That will do. Bridge, send an order to the Fleet. All warships engage the enemy."

The Grand Admiral turned to Parck. "As soon as we've dealt with our offenders, the _Admonitor_ is to set course for Endor at maximum speed. The upcoming battle will be a decisive point for the future of the galaxy, Captain, which is why we must intervene." Thrawn's glowing red eyes burned with furious intensity. "We're going to save the Empire."


End file.
